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 corresponding with that of bishop in point of authority, for that it was only a nominal title appears from her associating with herself, as we shall see presently, a bishop who is described as 'the anointed head and chief of all bishops, and she the most blessed chief of all virgins' (, p. 12). Some time after, having gone to King Dunlaing to make a request, one of his slaves offers to become a Christian if she will obtain his freedom. She therefore asks the two favours, saying, 'If thou desirest excellent children, and a kingdom for thy sons, and heaven for thyself, give me the two boons I ask.' The answer of the pagan king is quite in character: 'The kingdom of heaven, as I see it not, and as no one knows what thing it is, I seek not; and a kingdom for my sons I seek not, for I shall not myself be extant, and let each one serve his time. But give me length of life and victory always over the Húi Néill.'

The great event of her life was the foundation of Kildare (cill dara, 'the church of the oak'). Cogitosus (830-835) has left us a description of this church as it existed in his time, from which it appears that it was divided by a partition which separated the sexes, her establishment comprising both men and women. The tombs of Bishop Condlaed and Brigit were placed, highly decorated with pendent crowns of gold, silver, and gems, one on the right hand, and the other on the left of the high altar. The Irish bishops, it should be mentioned, wore crowns after the custom of the eastern church instead of mitres. After gathering her community she found she required the services of a bishop, and she accordingly chose (elegit) a holy man, a solitary, named Condlaed, 'to govern the church with her in episcopal dignity.' Condlaed was thus a monastic bishop under the orders of the head of the establishment as in the Columbian monasteries mentioned by Bæda (, p. 13).

The death of Brigit took place at Kildare on 1 Feb. 523, which is her day in the calendar, and she was undoubtedly buried in Kildare, as already mentioned. On the other hand, a tradition current for many centuries has it that she was buried in Downpatrick with St. Patrick and St. Columba. This is now known to have been a fraud of John de Courcey, lord of Down, got up by him in the hope that the supposed possession of their bodies would conciliate the Irish to his rule (Annals of Four Masters). The Irish life in conclusion says that Brigit is 'the Mary of the Gael,' or, as it is in Broccan's hymn, 'she was one mother of the king's son,' which the gloss explains 'she was one of the mothers of Christ.' This strange manner of speaking which Irish ecclesiastics made use of, not only at home, but on the continent, to the astonishment of their hearers, is explained in a poem of Nicolas de Bibera, by a reference to Matthew xii. 50: 'Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.' Looking through the haze of miracles in which her acts are enveloped, we discern a character of great energy and courage, warmly affectionate, generous, and unselfish, and wholly absorbed by a desire to promote the glory of God, and to relieve suffering in all its forms. Such a personality could not but impress itself on the imagination of the Irish people, as hers has done in a remarkable degree.

 BRIGSTOCKE, THOMAS (1809–1881), portrait-painter, commenced his studies at the age of sixteen at Sass's drawing-school, and was subsequently a pupil of H. P. Briggs, R.A., and J. P. Knight, R.A. He spent eight years in Paris and Italy, and made some copies from pictures by the old masters, among them one of Raphael's 'Transfiguration' in the Vatican, which, on the recommendation of W. Collins, R.A., was purchased for Christ Church, Albany Street, Regent's Park. In 1847 he went to Egypt, and painted the portrait of Mehemet Ali. Between 1843 and 1865 Brigstocke exhibited sixteen works at the Royal Academy, and two at the British Institution. His portrait of General Sir James Outram is now in the National Portrait Gallery; that of General Sir William Nott at the Oriental Club, Hanover Square; and that of Cardinal Wiseman at St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw. He painted an historical picture entitled 'The Prayer for Victory." He died suddenly on 11 March 1881.

  BRIHTNOTH (d. 991), ealdorman of the East Saxons, married Æthelflæd, daughter of the ealdorman Ælfgar, and succeeded him in his office, probably about 953. As Brihtnoth's sister-in-law Æthelflæd was the wife of Æthelstan, ealdorman of the East Anglians, the friend of Dunstan, it is probable that he